Court: Man admits setting fire on bus in China, injuring 33

BEIJING (AP) — A man admitted on Wednesday that he set a fire that spread through a bus in eastern China and injured 33, entering his plea from a hospital bed wheeled into a courtroom because of his own injuries in the blaze, a court said.

Bao Laixu said he started the fire last July in the city of Hangzhou to take revenge against society and because he wanted to end his own life after a relapse of tuberculosis, the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court said on its microblog. The sentence is yet to be announced.

A photo carried by China News Service showed a hospital bed in the middle of the courtroom flanked by two security guards. It said Bao was lying down because his ankles were amputated and his body had extensive burns.

Xinhua News Agency reported that two other passengers were still hospitalized more than six months after the attack.

China has experienced a series of public attacks in recent years, including buses set on fire and children stabbed in schools, that have been blamed on people who are mentally unstable or seeking revenge against society.